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Dover Street Market Expands While Defying Retail Convention

The experimental multibrand chain, now opening a sixth store in Los Angeles, has made a lucrative business from bucking trends

By

Alexandra Marshall

Aug. 14, 2018 9:29 a.m. ET

THE NEW Dover Street Market boutique, a single-story shed, has no window dressing to lure in foot traffic, because it doesn’t have street-facing windows. Passersby are in short supply in a neighborhood populated more by cold-storage warehouses than restaurants or boutiques.

​​The store sits on Imperial Street, a side street in downtown Los Angeles, a location selected by co-founders Rei Kawakubo and Adrian Joffe for the sixth outpost of their experimental multibrand chain. Just one block north, Imperial Street ends in the...